# Another fucking scandal?! WTF?! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 6, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289 "2013-06-06T14:21:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/1 "2013-06-06T14:21:40Z")
Words fail me: [NSA collecting phone records](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/06/doj-guardian-leak-investigation_n_3395735.html?1370525438) I’ve officially lost all hope that anything g is going to get done for the remainder of Obama’s Presidency. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/2 "2013-06-06T14:23:52Z")
While I’m disgusted by the practice, I didn’t think this was a new issue. I thought it was established practice under Bush, and that Obama had sadly made clear he was not going to do anything to change it. Is there something novel about this particular instance? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/3 "2013-06-06T14:25:17Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Is there something novel about this particular instance? Publicity. The scandal is that laws were passed so that this bullshit is legal. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/4 "2013-06-06T14:35:43Z")
This is old news that is only being called a “scandal” now because it’s got Obama’s name attached to it. From your link: > [@](#): > > “Under the Bush administration, officials in security agencies had disclosed to reporters the large-scale collection of call records data by the NSA,” Greenwald wrote, “but this is the first time significant and top-secret documents have revealed the **continuation of the practice** on a massive scale under President Obama.” Emphasis added. Don’t get me wrong, I’m completely opposed to this kind of surveillance and have been ever since the post-9/11 “War on Terror” measures got started. But it’s absurd for anti-Obama media to pretend that this is somehow a new thing that’s specifically Obama’s fault. To the conservative frothers who are screaming about government tyranny, I say: Well, jackasses, this is why we civil-liberties types were trying to tell you ten years ago that you should oppose this kind of intrusive draconian security measure. Because someday, after you’ve calmed down from your “root out and kill all the Mooslim terrists!!1!!!” frenzy, such measures are still going to be operative _under an administration you don’t like_. To the Obama admirers who are disappointed that his administration hasn’t voluntarily discontinued this practice, I say: Suckers. I voted for Obama too because both times he was clearly better than the other guy, but I never kidded myself that the liberal principles of his administration extended to actually relinquishing any kind of executive power, however illegitimately derived. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/5 "2013-06-06T14:47:50Z")
Frankly, I’m scandaled out. These are the Boys who Cried Scandal. It appears that every month or two, some event is paraded around as a Big Scandal. It’s some Big Important Thing that we all need to Pay Attention To, and when you look under the covers it’s just business as usual, or absolutely nothing at all. So, he’s doing the same thing his predecessor did, while never claiming he would stop the practice. Wow, let’s have a look at my shocked face. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/6 "2013-06-06T14:56:23Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I’ve officially lost all hope that anything g is going to get done for the remainder of Obama’s Presidency. _One, two, three and to the fo’ President Obama orders the NSA to your do’ Ready to make an entrance, so back on up (‘Cause you know about to rip shit up) Gimme the phone records first, so I can bust like a bubble Obama and Bush together, now you know you in trouble Ain’t nuthin’ but a “G” thang, baaaaabay!_ ---
**Author:** ![drew870mitchell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drew870mitchell/32/3946_2.png) [@drew870mitchell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drew870mitchell)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/7 "2013-06-06T15:03:38Z")
It’s just the national security state spinning away from the control of the democracy, what’s the problem? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/8 "2013-06-06T15:07:38Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Frankly, I’m scandaled out. These are the Boys who Cried Scandal. It appears that every month or two, some event is paraded around as a Big Scandal. It’s some Big Important Thing that we all need to Pay Attention To, and when you look under the covers it’s just business as usual, or absolutely nothing at all. > > So, he’s doing the same thing his predecessor did, while never claiming he would stop the practice. Wow, let’s have a look at my shocked face. :rolleyes: Agree. What really sticks in my craw is how many house committees do we have dedicated to these “scandals”? ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/9 "2013-06-06T15:13:04Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Agree. What really sticks in my craw is how many house committees do we have dedicated to these “scandals”? But look at how many are dedicated to repealing the statutes that make this type of thing legal? :smack: Another case of it is wrong because a D did it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/10 "2013-06-06T15:19:33Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > _One, two, three and to the fo’ > President Obama orders the NSA to your do’ > Ready to make an entrance, so back on up > (‘Cause you know about to rip shit up) > Gimme the phone records first, so I can bust like a bubble > Obama and Bush together, now you know you in trouble > Ain’t nuthin’ but a “G” thang, baaaaabay!_ Bravo, sir. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/11 "2013-06-06T15:19:38Z")
Odd that noone stops to wonder where all these revelations are coming from, and all of a sudden, too. I’ve said it before, in trying to throw the CIA and the Clintons under the bus for Benghazi, Obama chose … poorly. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/12 "2013-06-06T15:28:02Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > _One, two, three and to the fo’ > President Obama orders the NSA to your do’ > Ready to make an entrance, so back on up > (‘Cause you know about to rip shit up) > Gimme the phone records first, so I can bust like a bubble > Obama and Bush together, now you know you in trouble > Ain’t nuthin’ but a “G” thang, baaaaabay!_ This shit right here. This is why I read the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/13 "2013-06-06T15:27:57Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > trying to throw the CIA and the Clintons under the bus for Benghazi, Did I miss this in my Scandal Induced Coma? ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/14 "2013-06-06T15:32:51Z")
Every discussion devolves into “We need to give Obama our unconditional support because Bush was bad and will magically come back for a third term if we don’t, and also everything Obama does is fine because Bush (who, remember is evil to a mystical degree!) did similar things.” I’d try to use logic on these people but it would work about as well as talking to a Scientologist. Any moral person should be as done with this administration as they were with the last one, but there’s too many True Believers out there who are more interested in defending their team on the Internet than thinking. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/15 "2013-06-06T16:02:05Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Agree. What really sticks in my craw is how many house committees do we have dedicated to these “scandals”? Ummm, [ALL](http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2013/05/30) of them? ---
**Author:** ![babygoat666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@babygoat666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/babygoat666)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/16 "2013-06-06T16:06:10Z")
The PATRIOT Act was signed on October 26, 2001. What a peculiar time to get upset over it. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/17 "2013-06-06T16:14:16Z")
> [@babygoat666](#): > > The PATRIOT Act was signed on October 26, 2001. What a peculiar time to get upset over it. It sucked then, and it sucks now. I see no reason to be less pissed at it over time, but possibly the opposite. I think some people were hoping it was an overreaction to a crazy event and that eventually we’d figure out that it was stupid. Apparently, not so much. Obama is just as much as an asshole for using it now as Bush was for signing it into law then (although obviously it involves a lot more people than just the President - plenty of blame to go around). ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/18 "2013-06-06T16:15:19Z")
> [@Condescending\_Robot](#): > > because Bush (who, remember is evil to a mystical degree!) did similar things." … Which many of the people screaming about it now did not protest (and indeed, actively supported) when he did it. At least the liberals concerned about civil liberties are consistent. That is the point of at least some of those responding. Heck, I’m not sure which I’m more disturbed by: hypocritical conservatives for whom the current news is suddenly BAD because the President is different, or the consistent ones who think that the surveillance is STILL a-okay. ---
**Author:** ![babygoat666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@babygoat666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/babygoat666)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/19 "2013-06-06T16:23:03Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > It sucked then, and it sucks now. I see no reason to be less pissed at it over time, but possibly the opposite. I think some people were hoping it was an overreaction to a crazy event and that eventually we’d figure out that it was stupid. Apparently, not so much. > > Obama is just as much as an asshole for using it now as Bush was for signing it into law then (although obviously it involves a lot more people than just the President - plenty of blame to go around). Agreed about it sucking, but did a lot of you seriously believe that this practice had stopped occurring at some point for some reason? I think it’s pretty weird to get re-offended over something we all already knew about. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/20 "2013-06-06T16:35:05Z")
> [@babygoat666](#): > > Agreed about it sucking, but did a lot of you seriously believe that this practice had stopped occurring at some point for some reason? I think it’s pretty weird to get re-offended over something we all already knew about. I’d say I’ve been similarly annoyed by it the whole time, but there have been large gaps of time when I wasn’t thinking about it - so much other shit going on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289.md?page=2)